Saudi Arabia, US Plan to Promote Promising Sectors

Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Qasabi during his meetings on Thursday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Qasabi during his meetings on Thursday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia, US Plan to Promote Promising Sectors

Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Qasabi during his meetings on Thursday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Qasabi during his meetings on Thursday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Qasabi met with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in Washington on Thursday to discuss advancing bilateral trade relations.

Qasabi, who headed a delegation from the Kingdom, said the talks are part of both countries' keenness to increase coordination according to a joint action plan that can raise the commercial exchange opportunities in several promising economic sectors.

The targeted sectors include: building the green economy, strengthening the role of women in doing business, developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and promoting innovation.

Later, the Saudi Minister met with the President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Reta Jo Lewis to discuss boosting the economic partnership.

The delegations also held bilateral meetings with several officials at the US Department of Commerce to enhance communication at all levels and reviewed the top reforms implemented to increase Saudi Arabia's competitiveness.

The Saudi delegates and US officials tackled bilateral ties and promising opportunities in hydrogen production and waste management, as well as promoting innovations through protecting intellectual property.

They addressed bolstering the knowledge economy based on artificial intelligence, cloud storage, data flow, developing SMEs, and women's role and participation in economic development.

The delegation included Governor of the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) Saad al-Qasabi, CEO of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SIAP) Abdulaziz al-Suwailem, and representatives from several ministries, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monshaat), Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA), the General Authority for Foreign Trade, National Competitiveness Center (NCC), Saudi Aramco, and Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC).



BP Warns of 4th Quarter Profit Hit as Production and Refining Margins Fall

Logo of British Petrol BP is seen at a petrol station in Pienkow, Poland, June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
Logo of British Petrol BP is seen at a petrol station in Pienkow, Poland, June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
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BP Warns of 4th Quarter Profit Hit as Production and Refining Margins Fall

Logo of British Petrol BP is seen at a petrol station in Pienkow, Poland, June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
Logo of British Petrol BP is seen at a petrol station in Pienkow, Poland, June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo

BP warned on Tuesday that lower production, weak refining margins and sluggish trading would see its profit in the fourth quarter of 2024 fall from the previous three months.
Since taking the helm a year ago, CEO Murray Auchincloss has scaled back the firm's energy transition strategy in an effort to boost profits and regain investor confidence as BP's share lags behind its competitors, Reuters reported.
A capital markets event previously scheduled for Feb. 11 in New York will instead take place on Feb. 26 in London, BP said, as Auchincloss is recovering from a planned medical procedure.
BP said the drop in refining margins and a higher impact from turnaround and maintenance activity would result in a quarter-on-quarter drop in profit of up to $300 million, while realizations in its oil production and operations unit could lead to a further reduction of $200 million to $400 million. It also expects a drop in upstream production.
The company's third quarter underlying replacement cost profit, the company's definition of net income, was $2.27 billion, already the weakest since the fourth quarter of 2020, when profits collapsed during the pandemic.
Global demand for gasoline and diesel has fallen short of expectations, while the launch of new oil refineries in Asia and Africa has resulted in oversupply.
Last week, Shell warned of weakness across multiple divisions, while Exxon Mobil signaled a $1.75 billion drop in fourth-quarter earnings.
BP, which will release fourth quarter results on Feb. 11, expects its net debt at end-December to have fallen from the end of the previous quarter. Exploration write-offs are seen falling by $100 million to $200 million.